Worksheet 1: The Scientific Method
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A) Web site name: University of Georgia
Web URL: http://www.physast.uga.edu/~jss/SETI/skeptic.html
Read “The Scientific Method” particularly sections 1.1 to 1.6
1) What is the difference between the common definition of a “theory” and
the scientific definition of a “theory” ?
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2) What is a “hypothesis”?
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3) Why is the “Snorg hypothesis” not scientific ? _____________________
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4) Why is Einstein’s theory of relativity an improvement on Newton’s theory of
gravity? ______________________________________________________
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5) What is “Occum’s Razor”? _____________________________________
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6) If Occum’s razor does not tell you about the truth of a hypothesis, what does
it tell you? ___________________________________________________
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B)
Web site: University of Miami
Web URL: http://www.bio.miami.edu/dana/dox/scientific_method.html
Read the section “Solving problems in Biology”
7) Explain what is meant by “inductive reasoning”: ________________________
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8) In the example of hymenopterans, what do “All hymenopterans have”? ______
9) What is the “inductive leap” ? ______________________________________
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10) Explain “deductive reasoning”. ____________________________________
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11) Give your own example of deductive reasoning:
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12) Explain in your own words the meaning of a theory in science.
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C)
Web page: NASA
Web URL: http://science.nasa.gov/headlines/y2002/15may_maggrav.htm?list740511
Read “Sowing seeds in a magnetic field”
13) Why must there be “more to it” than the idea that plants grow towards light?
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14) Give your own example of a plant behavior that is affected by gravity:
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15) What are the two possibilities for how plants detect gravity?
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16) Explain why the shuttle experiment will use “artificial gravity” produced by
magnets.
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17) Why is this experiment conducted in the dark?
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To test different explanations, or hypotheses, scientists do an experiment.
D)
Web page: McGraw-Hill
Web URL:
http://highered.mheducation.com/olcweb/cgi/pluginpop.cgi?it=swf::535::535::/sites/dl/
free/0072437316/120076/bio21.swf::Hershey+and+Chase+Experiment
Read the section on the Hershey and Chase Experiment
18) What are bacterial viruses called? __________________
19)
What does a “phage” consist of? ______________________________
20)
In the animation, how many phages infect one bacterial cell ? _____________
21)
Does the protein coat of a phage get injected inside a bacterial cell? ________
22)
Which radioactive chemical was used to label amino acids? ___________
23)
In the first part of the experiment, with radioactive protein, how many new
phages are formed inside the bacterial cell? _____________________
24)
How were the protein coats removed from the surface of the bacteria?
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25)
Is 32P used to radioactively label amino acids or DNA ? _______________
26)
What did this experiment demonstrate? ___________________________
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E)
Web page: State University of New York
Web URL: http://ublib.buffalo.edu/libraries/projects/cases/coots/coots.html
27)
What is the hypothesis here? ____________________________________
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Click on “Go to Parts II-V”
28)
Why did dyeing the plumage of the chicks not work well? ______________
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29)
What three data did the scientists decide to compare?
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30)
Click on “Go to Figure 2” and summarize the results: __________________
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31)
Do the results support the original hypothesis? Explain your answer:
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